Grooved fishing lure

ABSTRACT

An improved fishing lure of the elongated plastic or rubber wiggle type. The lures which are flexible, soft, and resilient are molded or cut with grooves at an angle or pitch within the range of 3* to 80* from a horizontal plane. The angled grooves give increased strength to the lure as a result of greater crosssectional area. The angled grooves having a spiral configuration create a turbulence in the water as the lure is moved which attracts the attention of the fish it is desired to catch. The angled grooves of translucent or transparent lures according to the invention results in increased refraction and reflection of light as the lure is moved through the water with resultant attraction of fish.

United States Patent Inventor Francis P. Keenan 1623 Montrose Drive,Tyler, Tex. 75701 Appl. No. 31,611

Filed Apr. 24, 1970 Patented Jan. 4, 1972 GROOVED FISHING LURE 3 Claims,6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 43/42.24,

Int. Cl A01k 87/04 Field of Search 43/4224, 42.34, 42.33, 175

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Lund 43/4224 3,148,474 9/1964Smith 43/4224 2,599,035 6/1952 vWing.... 43/4233 2,241,941 5/1941 Bates43/4233 Primary Examiner-Melvin D. Rein Attorney-Arthur M. SloanABSTRACT: An improved fishing lure of the elongated plastic or rubberwiggle type. The lures which are flexible, soft, and resilient aremolded or cut with grooves at an angle or pitch within the range of 3 to80 from a horizontal plane. The angled grooves give increased strengthto the lure as a result of greater cross-sectional area. The angledgrooves having a spiral configuration create a turbulence in the wateras the lure is moved which attracts the attention of the fish it isdesired to catch. The angled grooves of translucent or transparent luresaccording to the invention results in increased refraction andreflection of light as the lure is moved through the water withresultant attraction of fish.

PATENTEU JAN 4 I972 FIG. 2 45 FIG. 5

mvemoa FRANCIS P. KEENAN ATTORNE GROOVE!) FISHING LURE This inventionrelates to an improved fishing lure.

The fishing lure of the subject invention may be made of a suitableplastic substance, a rubber compound, or any other appropriate softmaterial that is elastic, flexible, and resilient and which can bemolded into the desired shapes.

Commonly the lures are in the shape of womrs or snakes.

Prior art lures have contained grooves or indentations molded or cutvertically or at substantially 90 to a horizontal plane running alongthe length of the elongated lure. In prior art lures there have beenslight unintentional inclinations of the grooves or indentations of afew degrees; however, with the slight unintentional inclination of thegrooves sometimes occuring in prior art lures the grooves have stillbeen substantially vertical or at right angles to the horizontal planerunning along the length of the elongated lure.

One of the disadvantages of the prior art lures has been theirsusceptibility to tearing or breaking along the grooves or indentationson stretching or twisting of the lure. As a result, prior art luresfrequently tear along the grooves or indentations and are lost or minedwith concomitant loss of fish. This results in increased expense andaggravation to the fisherman.

In addition prior art lures of the plastic wiggle type withsubstantially vertical grooves or indentations create no particularturbulence or illusion of movement when they are twisted, twitched, ormoved through the water.

Neither do prior art fishing lures of the plastic wiggle type withsubstantially vertical indentations or grooves produce any refractive orreflective optical effects to attract the fish which it is desired tocatch.

It has been found that if the fishing lures are manufactured withgrooves or indentations inclined at an angle of more than 3 but lessthan 80 from the horizontal plane running along the length of theelongated fishing lure, then there is much less likelihood that the lurewill tear along the indentation or groove. This is because the lures ofthe subject invention have a greater cross-sectional area along thegrooves or indentations. This results in less lost lures and and greaterlure life.

Lures of the subject invention having inclined or diagonal grooves orindentations at an angle of 3 to 80 from the horizontal plane have aspiral appearance. It has been found that when the lures of the subjectinvention are twisted or twitched slightly or pulled through the waterthe spiral appearance gives the illusion of movement and the inclinedgrooves actually produce a revolving or twisting of the lure. Thisillusion of movement has been found to attract fish. Prior art lureswith vertical grooves or indentations lack the illusion of movement andare less likely to attract fish. Needless to say, the purpose of anylure is to lure or attract fish.

In addition, the diagonal or inclined spira indentations or grooves ofthe lures of the subject invention create a slight turbulence as theyare moved through the water or slightly twisted or twitched in thewater. This turbulence which does not occur with prior art lures furtherattracts the fish which it is desired to catch. This turbulenceresulting in vibrations through the water which attracts fish is adirect result of the water moving along the inclined grooves or spiralconfiguration of the lures of the subject invention.

Fishing lures of the plastic wiggle type such as those of the subjectinvention may be molded or otherwise constructed of an opaque materialor of a translucent or transparent material. In some instances luresconstructed of a translucent or transparent material have been shown tobe more effective in attracting fish. In prior art plastic wiggle-typelures constructed of translucent or transparent material with verticalgrooves or indentations, no particular reflective or refractive effectshave been found to occur. In the lures of the subject invention with theinclined or diagonal grooves at an angle of 3 to 80 from the horizontalplane, a very evident refractive and reflective optical effect occurs.This not only further enhances the illusion or appearance of movementbut effectively sends out light signals which are received by the fish.Both the illusion of movement and the reflective light produced by thelures of the subject invention act to attract fish. As noted theseeffects are not available in prior art plastictype wiggle lures.

Accordingly it is an object of the subject invention to provide animproved fishing lure.

Another object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type.

Yet another object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure with inclined or diagonal grooves or indentations molded orcut into the lure at an angle of 3 to from the horizontal plane runningalong the length of the elongated lure.

A further object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure which attracts fish to a much higher degree than prior artfishing lures.

An additional object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type with greater strengththan prior art lures.

Still another object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type with increasedstrength along the grooves or indentations.

Yet another object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type which is less likelyto tear along the grooves or indentations than prior art devices.

A further object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type having a longer lifethan prior art devices.

An additional object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type which gives a greaterillusion of movement as it is pulled, twisted, or twitched through thewater than do prior art fishing lures.

A further object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type which creates aturbulence or vibrations in the water as it is moved through the wateror twisted in the water.

Yet another object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type which may be made oftransparent or translucent material to create an added optical illusionof movement as the fishing lure is moved through the water or twisted ortwitched in the water.

Yet one more object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type which may beconstructed of a transparent or translucent material to createrefractive and reflective optical qualities which are not available inprior art fishing lures.

Still one more object of the subject invention is to provide an improvedfishing lure of the plastic or rubber wiggle type which may beconstructed of transparent or translucent material to create reflectiveoptical effects which aid in attracting the fish desired to be caught.

Other object, advantages, and novel features of the subject inventionwill be apparent from the following description in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a prior art fishing lure of the plastic orrubber wiggle type.

FIG. 2 is a top view of one configuration of a fishing lure according tothe subject invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top view of another configuration of a fishing lureaccording to the subject invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fishing lure according to the subjectinvention.

Referring to the drawings in FIG. 1 a prior art fishing lure of theplastic wiggle type is shown at l with vertical grooves or indentations2 at to the horizontal plane 3 running along the length of the elongatedfishing lure 1.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show one configuration of the fishing lure of the subjectinvention.

FIG. 2 is a left-handed configuration showing lure 4 having grooves orindentations 5 at a pitch or angle of approximately 30 to the horizontalplane 6 running along the length of the elongated fishing lure 4.Naturally, if the angle is measured from the right side rather than theleft side of the groove, then it is the supplement of 30, and theangular range of 3 to 80 stated throughout this application ispredicated on angle measurement from that side of the groove giving thesmallest angle of inclination.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the fishing lure 4 of FIG. 2 takenalong the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing the flattened surface 7resulting from an open molding process.

FIG. 4 is a right-handed configuration showing lure 8 having grooves orindentations 9 at a pitch or angle of approximately 60 to the horizontalplane 10 running along the length of the elongated fishing lure 8.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the fishing lure of FIG. 4 takenalong the lines 55 of FIG. 4 and showing the rounded surface 11resulting from a closed molding process.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a translucent fishing lure 12 accordingto the subject invention having grooves or indentations 13 at an angleof approximately 35 to the horizontal plane 14 running along the lengthof the elongated fishing lure 12.

As noted, the grooves or indentations of the fishing lure of the subjectinvention are cut or molded at an angle of from 3 to 80 from thehorizontal plane running along the length of the elongated lure.

It can be seen that in every instance the angled grooves of the fishinglures of the subject invention are longer than the vertical grooves ofthe prior art, and as a result the lures of the subject invention have agreater cross-sectional area of material along the grooves orindentations than do prior art fishing lures. This greatercross-sectional area of material along the grooves gives the fishinglures of the subject invention a greater strength on stretching ortwisting thus prolonging the life of the fishing lure and decreasingit's susceptibility to tearing and breaking. Since the prior art lureshave their narrowest cross section along the grooves, they invariablytear along the grooves. The lures of the subject invention do not havetheir narrowest cross section along the grooves and will not tear alongthe grooves in normal use.

When a prior art lure is stretched, the greatest stress is along thegrooves. When a lure of the subject invention is stretched, the stressesare evenly distributed along the elongated length of the lure, thusgiving the lure greater strength.

Because of the spiral configuration of the lures of the subjectinvention, there is no groove opposite any other groove, hence there isuniform cross-sectional area along the grooved length of the lure. Inprior art lures every groove has an opposite groove giving the lure weakpoints along the groove and sections of lesser cross-sectional areaalong the groove.

Twisting or twitching the spiral" appearing fishing lure of the subjectinvention and moving it through the water creates a turbulence thussending out vibrations to attract the attention of the fish desired tobe caught, since a spiral flow of water through the angular groovescausing a revolving or twisting of the lure is induced by motion.

The lines 13a in FIG. 6 indicate the groove pattern productive ofrefractive and reflective optical effects when the lure of the subjectinvention is constructed of translucent or transparent material. Thegroove pattern 13a showing through the translucent or transparentmaterial from one side to the other with the reflective and refractiveoptical effects gives the further illusion of movement as the lure istwisted or twitched or pulled through the water. The illusion ofmovement is effective to attract the fish desired to be caught. Likewisethe reflection produced by the spiral" pattern 130 of the groovesshining through the transparent or translucent material from one side tothe other aids in attracting the fish to the lure.

The fishing lures of the prior art, having vertical grooves orindentations, when constructed of transparent or translucent materialhave the grooves on one side cancel out the optical effect of thegrooves on the other side giving no "spiral" effect with attendantrefractive and reflective properties i.e. in prior art fishing lures thegroove on one side is superimposed optically over the groove on theother side cancelling out any spiral" appearance or reflective orrefractive optical effect.

As noted above, the angular grooves of the fishing lure of the subjectinvention have been found to be much more effective in catching fishwith much longer fishing lure life and less possibility of loss of lurethrough tearing or ripping.

I claim:

1. A fishing lure of the resilient wiggle type formed from a translucentor transparent plastic material and provided with a continuous spiralgroove extending along a major portion of the body of the lure, theangle of the groove with respect to a plane extending along the lengthof the lure being between 3 and the depth and the configuration of thegroove being such as to afi'ord greater strength on stretching ortwisting and affording an optical effect giving the illusion ofmovement.

2. A fishing lure of the resilient wiggle type formed from a translucentor transparent plastic material and provided with spiral groovesextending along a major portion of the body of the lure, the angle ofthe grooves with respect to a plane extending along the length of thelure being between 3 and 80, the depth and configuration of the groovesbeing such as to afford greater strength on stretching or twisting andaffording an optical effect giving the illusion of motion.

3. The fishing lure as recited in claim 2, said lure having a flatbottom.

1. A fishing lure of the resilient wiggle type formed from a translucentor transparent plastic material and provided with a continuous spiralgroove extending along a major portion of the body of the lure, theangle of the groove with respect to a plane extending along the lengthof the lure being between 3* and 80*, the depth and the configuration ofthe groove being such as to afford greater strength on stretching ortwisting and affording an optical effect giving the illusion ofmovement.
 2. A fishing lure of the resilient wiggle type formed from atranslucent or transparent plastic material and provided with spiralgrooves extending along a major portion of the body of the lure, theangle of the grooves with respect to a plane extending along the lengthof the lure being between 3* and 80*, the depth and configuration of thegrooves being such as to afford greater strength on stretching ortwisting and affording an optical effect giving the illusion of motion.3. The fishing lure as recited in claim 2, said lure having a flatbottom.